7 Pinciples
Cassidy Provost
Federalism
- State government vs. national government
- A state couldn't pass a law that directly affected the national level
- "The State governments posses inherent advantages which will ever give them an influence and ascendency over the National Government, and will for ever preclude the possibility of federal encroachments. That their liberties, indeed, can be subverted by the federal head, is repugnant to every rule of political calculation."http://westillholdthesetruths.org/quotes/category/federalism
Republicanism
- Elected representatives vote for what the people want
- Two representatives in each state get together and vote on a law given by the three branches
- "Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future."
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johnfkenn121400.html#tcLM4Ldkq82qPfUP.99
Individual Rights
- The rights that we have as American Citizens and can't be taken by anyone
- We get freedom in the U.S. and cannot be enslaved by anyone
- "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/aynrand138254.html
Popular Soverignty
- The power of the people to vote
- The people elect representatives for the state
- "It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty." http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jamesmonro310486.html#mOT2tUcjtCQ3247q.99
Separation of Powers
- The three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial) are separated so they aren't just one big government
- The legislative make the laws, executive enforces the laws, and judicial can veto them
- "In all tyrannical governments the supreme magistracy, or the right both of making and of enforcing the laws, is vested in one and the same man, or one and the same body of men; and wherever these two powers are united together, there can be no public liberty." http://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers
Checks & Balances
- The three branches have the power to check on each other to make sure they are doing the right thing
- The president can go to the court systems and make sure they're being fair and just
- "The founders had a strong distrust for centralized power in a federal government. So they created a government with checks and balances. This was to prevent any branch of the government from becoming too powerful."
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ezrataftbe610992.html#CjcwE8VDjLYK2T1h.99
Limited Government
- The government cannot do everything and is not all powerful
- You're house can be taken away, but the government has to have a reason for it
- "We believe, as our founders did, that 'the pursuit of happiness' depends upon individual liberty; and individual liberty requires limited government."
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/paulryan414376.html#giB6vSySKjYvjhkx.99